Discussion: Sport Journalism

Discussion: Sport Journalism

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Hi Everyone,

This is just a friendly reminder that your third essays (your book reviews) for EAC 955are due this Friday by no later than 6:00 pm.

Let me emphasize this one BIG point: The most important aspect of this assignment is how well you relate your book or novel choice with the lecture notes. I am not interested in a traditional book report here. In just a few sentences, tell me what the book is about and then focus the remaining 85% of your energies RELATING your book or novel choice to what we have covered in this course.

You are asked to write your answer in essay form so you need an introduction, body and conclusion.

In your introduction, you should at the very least begin by saying, “__________, written by_________ is a book on _______________. It______ relates to lecture’s ____, ____ and ____ which cover the themes of ____, ____ and ____.”

Then in the body of your essay, prove “how” it relates to the lecture notes.

You can’t just say where your book or novel relates (that is, just a simple, “______ relates to lecture ____ on the topic of ______” and leave it at that. You need to provide a clear explanation of why here. You have to prove how it relates to the lectures.

For example, “The book______ relates to lecture ____, because ____________(now provide your explanation).” The better the explanation, the higher your grade will be.

This is what an essay is all about: it is proving your thesis. You must provide me with logical explanations as to why your book or novel relates to the lectures.

So start your essays off with a thesis (your core position/main arguments) and then in the body of your essay, go about proving what you claim to be true. If you do not do this, then expect to receive a very low mark.

I would like to emphasize one other key point. A book is something that is non-fictional. It actually happened. A novel is a made-up story with pretend characters. You need to know this difference. Books do not have “plots” or “characters.” Many students seem to misunderstand this concept. Please do not be one of them.

This assignment is VERY similar to what will be asked of you for the Final Exam. (In a few weeks, I will be providing a detailed document to you on this matter so please don’t ask any questions right now). I am trying to prepare you to succeed here. The best way to do so is to prove to me that you actually have been reading the lecture materials. Likewise, please do not try to “trick” me into believing that you read your book by watching a movie version of it. Let’s not go there. Thanks.

Finally, remember to:

1. UNDERLINE your book or novel choice and not use quotation marks. You used quotation marks for poems, songs, films and short stories. Books need to be underlined.
2. Again, remember that books are non-fiction works while novels are fictional (made-up stories). Know this difference. I should not have to tell you this on your essay.
3. For a college level essay, you are allowed to use a person’s first name if they are a character in a novel. You cannot use a person’s first name if they are someone in a book. So don’t refer to people as “Larry” or “Michael.” Likewise, you cannot use an author’s first name. So do not refer to some such as Ken Dryden (if you chose his book- again, this is not a novel) as “Ken.” You do not personally know him. Therefore use an author’s full name, last name or pronouns such as “him” or “her.”
4. Make sure to have your subject heading that includes your name, the course, the section and the assignment number.
5. Remember to provide your researched sources plus your book choices at the bottom of your Works Cited section.